“The line of priesthood authority was broken. But mankind was not left in total darkness or completely without revelation or inspiration. The idea that with the Crucifixion of Christ the heavens were closed and that they opened in the First Vision is not true. The Light of Christ would be everywhere present to attend the children of God; the Holy Ghost would visit seeking souls. The prayers of the righteous would not go unanswered.” Elder Boyd K. Packer [1]

“All down the ages . . . good and great men, not bearing the Priesthood, but possessing profundity of thought, great wisdom, and a desire to uplift their fellows, have been sent by the Almighty into many nations, to give them, not the fullness of the Gospel, but that portion of truth that they were able to receive and wisely use.” Elder Orson F. Whitney, quoted by Elder Howard W. Hunter

Here is the link: http://mormonmatters.org/2008/01/21/mythbusters-the-one-true-church/

I used to listen to a Catholic/Mormon Podcast on iTunes, and the author used to talk about Catholic saints. I really found the stories inspirational. I think we mormons don’t properly credit that everyone can have a spiritual experience. We think Catholics/Lutherans/Baptists are all just misguided souls, and tend to almost pity them for their lack of priesthood and spiritual knowledge we have. We fail to recognize that God does play a role in their lives, that they do have spiritual experiences as we do, and that God loves them just as much as he loves us. I think this is really unfortunate.

I used to live in the New England area, and had occasion to participate in other faiths much more than I do here in Utah. One of the guys in my deacon’s quorum, had a Jewish father, and a Mormon mother. Even though he was a baptized mormon, and ordained deacon, his father made him participate in a bar mitzvah. I think half of our ward attended the jewish service (on Saturday, so it didn’t interfere with our service, but I think our ward would have come on Sunday even if it did interfere.) Tom recited all the Hebrew scriptures, it was one of the coolest experiences I have ever had. The last I heard, Tom was serving in the bishopric there.

Honestly, I think that’s really cool you attended a christening. I really wish I had more non-member religious friends so I could attend these sort of occasions, because I think they’re wonderful experiences. I have often wondered if the mormon baby blessing was developed to be a sort of substitute for a baby christening.

I was also interested that the Irish felt so strongly about Bridget of Kildare. I noticed someone wrote a comment about the role of women in Gnosticism on your “femiphobic” post. The more I study early Christianity, the more I realize women had a much bigger role than we acknowledge. I wonder if the Apostasy also cut down the role of women, and I wonder if we mormons have adopted a patriarchal role in the church instead of a more equal partnership with women.

Anthony,

I had not heard of Ogam. Is this Joseph Smith papyri, the Book of Abraham, or something else?

I’ve heard GA’s often refer to the Reformation and praise those like Martin Luther who were inspired to lift mankind out of a spiritual darkness. But perhaps we’re too much of the mindset that everything that happened between the Great Apostasy and the Reformation (or perhaps even the Restoration) was generally dark and uninspired in nature and therefore of no spiritual value to us. Some would even perhaps assume that people in the Dark Ages didn’t feel the Spirit or ever receive inspiration from God because it was, after all, the Dark Ages.

And I agree with you that we Mormons tend to look down upon other Christian religions for “changing” everything after Jesus and all the Apostles were gone. Well, yes, but there are some beautiful aspects to their faiths, whether it be Catholic, Lutheran, whatever. A couple of months ago I was able to attend the Lutheran christening of our best friends’ baby, (which means that yes, I had to skip my own church that day). I know that the Book of Mormon has some harsh words about baptizing infants and, of course, it’s not something I personally believe in or would do myself. But it really is a beautiful thing and cause for celebration for the parents and families because it’s what they believe.